


Full of Surprises

by AoiTsukikage



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: M/M, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-06
Updated: 2013-08-06
Packaged: 2017-12-22 15:51:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/915088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AoiTsukikage/pseuds/AoiTsukikage
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It shouldn’t surprise him by now, really it shouldn’t, but when having a giant eyeball appear on your kitchen wall is the most normal part of the day, sometimes it still does.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Full of Surprises

**Author's Note:**

> So apparently I’m writing more for this fandom? I’m not sure where this came from, other than that I wanted to kind of play around with the fandom idea of Cecil having some sort of third eye and the everything kind of ran from there.

He almost doesn’t register the giant eyeball set into his kitchen wall like just another kitschy decoration…until he does, and it gives him a jolt as he’s trying to find a suitable breakfast (the Green Market co-op had been spotty in their inventory of fresh produce of late and all he’d managed to procure were a few bananas just this side of being too ripe). 

But there it is.  An eyeball. 

An eyeball about as wide as his forearm is long, brilliant purple with a blood-red iris and a pupil that swirls with all the colors of the aurora.  He’s curious, certainly, because where he’s from eyeballs just don’t…appear in the wall, but he’s hesitant to get too close because he’s been here long enough that being sucked through it into another dimension or something won’t be pleasant. 

It doesn’t react when he waves his hand in front of it, pupil drifting from side-to-side as if it’s taking in the entire space without seeing anything, and he decides on a whim to turn the radio on because if there’s one thing he’s learned about Night Vale, it’s that nothing goes unnoticed for long and he’s willing to bet he’s not the only one currently housing a rather uninvited guest. 

“And now to our top story.  We’ve had multiple phone calls from viewers asking about eyeballs…yes, eyeballs…that have seemingly appeared overnight.  We don’t know where the eyeballs came from or what creature they could possibly belong to, but so far no injuries or deaths have been reported and it is thought that the eyeballs are harmless.  Nevertheless, City Council would like any citizen that now has a new eyeball for a roommate to report it so they can get an idea of just how many of these there are, and they have also advised that if you don’t want the eyeball to potentially look at you changing, it might be best to hang something over it.  One never knows, after all. 

In other news, a giraffe has been spotted wandering in the area of the dog park, but since nobody is allowed _into_ the dog park, the community association is not quite sure how to deal with…”

Carlos sighs and turns the radio off, because that was mostly unhelpful, but he supposes he’d best listen to the City Council…and also, since the eyeball has a clear line of sight into his bedroom, hanging a picture or one of those blasted clocks over it might not be a bad idea. 

He does so, trying to ignore the look he’s getting which seems almost betrayed, and goes to change, somehow hoping that the eyeball will have gone back to wherever it came from by the time he’s dressed for the day.

-

It doesn’t.

-

After registering his complaint with the Council, he decides to make a short trip over to the radio station.  Cecil keeps strange hours for the most part but judging by the position of the sun it’s just about midday and the other man normally takes a lunch break at that time. 

That is, as long as the station’s not in any sort of crisis, which it very well could be. 

He nods to a pair of Angels loitering outside the entrance (really, he’s not sure why the Angels have the reputation that they do because they’ve always been perfectly civil toward him) and pushes through the front doors, failing to recognize any of the interns scurrying about (not that this is unusual, mind you) and walking down the hall to Cecil’s booth. 

As luck would have it, Cecil is indeed taking his lunch break, Arby’s sandwich and a cup of coffee settled in front of him while he rifles through a stack of papers and Carlos raps sharply on the doorframe before slipping in, getting a blinding grin in return. 

“My Carlos!” Cecil spins around in his chair and Carlos means to have a word with him about the possessiveness of his perpetual greeting for him, he truly does, but for some reason the words make his entire body pleasantly warm and his stomach do a swooping thing that he’s quite sure isn’t healthy and he can’t bring himself to.  “You’ve heard about the eyeballs.”

“I have one in my kitchen,” Carlos replies, and Cecil purses his lips at that, leaning on his hand as he taps his fingertips rhythmically against his chin. 

“Do you, now.”

“I do,” Carlos doesn’t think it’s necessary to repeat himself but Cecil’s starting to shift in his chair, looking mildly excited and Carlos isn’t sure what’s prompted this.  “What…”

“Oh, no, nothing to worry about, City Council assures me.  If anybody is killed, dismembered, or sucked into a time-space rift you can be assured I’ll be among the first to know,” his deadpan attitude toward the mayhem and maiming that occurs on an almost daily basis is still a little disconcerting to Carlos, but it’s another one of those things he’s starting to get used to.  “But…I suppose you won’t have heard this or you’d be a bit more excited…City Council _has_ decided that everybody currently sharing space with an eyeball should have at least one other person present at all times in the case of such a catastrophe, which means that I will be spending the night at your place.”

And Carlos once again should be offended that he’s just…invited himself over, but with the strange laws and curfews and such the town has the chance to get Cecil alone for a night without any extra effort on their part is, well, appealing. 

He’s not quite sure what to term their relationship yet, not entirely certain what a few dates and a few more heavy make-out sessions is classified as (and God, making out with Cecil is something he wishes he could spend much more time doing), but they’re… _something,_ and it’s nice, and Cecil smiles at him again before going back to his notes. 

“Nothing new about the eyeballs, although eyeballs themselves aren’t that uncommon…you know about a year back we had a week where people inexplicably woke up with third eyes.  They mostly seem to have gone away now but you’ll see the odd one popping up here and there,” his voice is hard to read but Carlos knows there’s more to this story than on the surface, and before he can think twice he asks,

“Did you ever see any?”

-

Carlos might leave the building a little quickly after that, and without saying a proper goodbye, but when one’s…boyfriend?  Make-out buddy?  Almost-lover?...suddenly has a third eye blink open in the middle of their forehead it tends to make one question their life choices. 

-

Cecil is waiting for him when he gets home from the lab, a little dusty because the winds have kicked up during the afternoon…or what passes for the afternoon, although the sun’s dropped remarkably quickly  and the streetlamps are starting to come on by the time he’s reached his door. 

Cecil’s brought pizza and an apologetic grin for dinner, holding the slice out in a placating manner as Carlos accepts it and nods, and the other man’s back to looking human…mostly human…truth be told Carlos isn’t quite sure _what_ Cecil is, but maybe nobody in Night Vale is completely human. 

It wouldn’t surprise him. 

“I’m sorry about earlier.  I forget that you’re not used to…extra appendages or suddenly-appearing eyeballs,” he laughs, mostly at himself, and Carlos takes a bite of his pizza and looks toward the wall. 

“I’m sorry if this is rude, but do you have any other…”

“Appendages?  No.  I promise.  Just the extra eye, and it’s mostly useless unless I’m looking for ghosts,” he’s chewing on his own slice and heading to move the clock away from the giant eyeball.  There’s a moment where Cecil’s just starting at it, the blue-green-orange-yellow swirl of the overlarge pupil finally settling on the other man, and then it’s over and Cecil’s turning back around, third eye proudly on display again. 

Carlos tries not to start this time but it’s just… _weird,_ and Cecil finishes off his pizza and tosses his napkin in the trash. 

“It doesn’t like looking at the back of a clock,” he says breezily, as if it’s really that simple, and Carlos tries to pretend that everything’s _normal_ and eats his own pizza, barely finished before he feels arms sliding around his waist and Cecil’s mouth on his neck, hot and firm and perfect, and he doesn’t care then if Cecil has three eyes or a hundred because nothing else really matters when they get this way. 

“Bedroom,” Cecil all but growls, his voice low and sharp and Carlos shivers in his arms before nodding, letting the other man half-guide him there as they’re fumbling with buttons and ties and cuffs and they’ve never been completely naked with each other, not yet, but shirtless is something he’s quickly becoming comfortable with and the searing press of skin-on-skin, the way that Cecil moans into his mouth when he runs his hands down the other man’s back, the way Cecil’s hands come up to tangle in his hair (he knows Cecil loves his hair, how could he not, and he’s so okay with that), the way their bodies press against each other on the bed, furiously seeking as much contact as they can find…

It’s all so… _normal,_ in this place where _nothing_ is normal, the fact that this…that carnal lust, and physical closeness, and _sex_ can be is such a comfort, and he hooks a leg around Cecil’s waist and bucks against him without meaning to, getting a gasp from the other man before he ruts down, growling, and then all Carlos knows is heat and friction and thank God these pants aren’t new before Cecil’s almost sobbing into his mouth, body arching beautifully and Carlos pulls him down to him and holds him firm as they ride it out, coming down slowly and sweat-soaked in the hot desert night air. 

-

“I can…clothes.  I have extra,” he mumbles a short while later, both of them unwilling to move too far even if it’s uncomfortably sticky for more than one reason. 

“Mm, no rush,” Cecil’s voice is raspy and worn and he’s lying with his head on the pillow, a smile on his lips as he reaches to stroke the other man’s hair.  “Thank you.  I didn’t know that was happening tonight.”

“I can’t say it was planned,” Carlos laughs quietly, reaching to still Cecil’s hand and holding it to his cheek.  “But I can’t say I regret it, either.”

“Good.  I certainly don’t,” Cecil looks over his shoulder and Carlos realizes belatedly that they’d never covered up the eye and so, whatever creature it belonged to, they’d almost certainly seen more than they needed to. 

But speaking of eyes…

“Can I see it again?” he asks softly, not bothering to clarify, but Cecil closes his eyes…his normal eyes…and a moment later it’s there.  It’s shaped differently, almost cat-like, with a thin pupil and violet iris, and Carlos is starting to accept that it’s just…there.  “Can you…does it work?” he asks curiously, and Cecil shrugs and opens his regular eyes once more. 

“Like I said, only for seeing ghosts.  Otherwise it’s just…shadows, vague shimmers, I’m not even sure what.  It’s why I don’t use it very often, it makes the world look not quite real,” he’s whispering now and Carlos leans in to kiss him, gently, holding his fingers in a light grasp. 

“I’m real,” he says, because sometimes he thinks that Cecil needs to hear it, and Cecil sighs as the eye disappears, the skin left behind completely unmarked as if it had never been there at all. 

“I know.”

-

“It’ll be gone in the morning,” he says once they’ve finally moved to change and get ready for bed, wrapped up under a thin sheet and Carlos wonders if there’s a way to sway the Council into letting them share a bed all the time because he knows he can easily get used to having the warmth of another body and the sound of another steady heartbeat beside him. 

“The eye?”

“The eye,” Cecil slurs, half-asleep already, and Carlos turns and kisses his forehead, right where the eye had appeared, something that earns him the sweetest smile he’s ever seen.  “My Carlos,” Cecil says affectionately.  “So full of surprises.”

“I’m not the only one,” Carlos returns and Cecil only nods and grips weakly at his hand, pulling it to his chest as he falls asleep. 

Carlos takes one look at the eyeball, glowing faintly in the darkness, and knows without knowing _how_ he knows that it will indeed be gone in the morning.

-

And it is.

-


End file.
